Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 305,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,086 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.53% of Assured Guaranty worth $22,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AGO. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Assured Guaranty during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,141,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Assured Guaranty in the 4th quarter valued at $2,035,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Assured Guaranty by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 226,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,935,000 after purchasing an additional 21,025 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in Assured Guaranty by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 893,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,882,000 after purchasing an additional 67,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambria Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Assured Guaranty by 8.5% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 161,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,784,000 after purchasing an additional 12,621 shares during the period. 92.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominic Frederico sold 55,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.43, for a total value of $5,083,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,450,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,099,662.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AGO. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Assured Guaranty from $64.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $92.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Assured Guaranty in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Assured Guaranty Stock Up 4.7 %

AGO stock opened at $82.08 on Thursday. Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a one year low of $49.84 and a one year high of $96.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.47 and a 200-day moving average of $77.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.14.

Assured Guaranty (NYSE:AGO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $245.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.78 million. Assured Guaranty had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 53.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Assured Guaranty Ltd. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Assured Guaranty Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from Assured Guaranty’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Assured Guaranty’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.00%.

Assured Guaranty Company Profile

Assured Guaranty Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides credit protection products to public finance, infrastructure, and structured finance markets in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments: Insurance and Asset Management. The company offers financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments.